The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina is pleased to announce grants to Polk County schools from the Learning Links grant program.  The grants provide local teachers with funding for activities designed to make required coursework fun and relevant for their students.

Three Learning Links grants totaling $3,560 were made to classrooms in Saluda Elementary School and Polk Central Elementary School.  Funds will purchase materials for a makerspace and a field trips to KidSenses and the Biltmore Estate along with related activities.

“These grants are submitted by hardworking teachers who want to deliver experiences that inspire and challenge their students,” said CFWNC President Elizabeth Brazas.  “Perhaps one of the field trips, experiments, projects or programs funded by a Learning Links grant will be the spark that sets a student on a path of life-long learning.  We remain very grateful to the generous people who created CFWNC endowments to support the work of WNC teachers.”

Learning Links offers grants up to $800 per teacher to public school teachers in Avery, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford and Swain counties to provide experiential learning projects for students. The goal is to increase students’ enthusiasm for learning and school. The grants are made possible by the Ben W. and Dixie Glenn Farthing Charitable Fund, the Cherokee County Schools Endowment Fund and the Dr. Robert J. and Kimberly S. Reynolds Fund of The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.  This year, 64 grants were awarded totaling $86,098.

For more information, contact The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina at 828-254-4960 or visit cfwnc.org.

– submitted by Lindsay Hearn